Mr. Speaker, I would have preferred to speak before one of the government members replied, who would then have been able to respond to my comments as well.
Like the hon. member for Sherbrooke, I wanted to quote what was said by the Prime Minister when he was in the opposition, on a similar question concerning a budget leak. I will not repeat the same quote, but I would like to quote what was said by the hon. member for Saint-Maurice in Hansard of July 24, 1975: ``The tradition of secrecy ensures that all Canadians will be kept at the same advantage or disadvantage with respect to any budgetary matter and that any announcement will be made first in
When, as the hon. member for Sherbrooke pointed out, we look at what was said by the hon. member for Guelph-Wellington, the members of the Liberal caucus must have known how the budget would affect their respective ridings before it was brought down.
I do not think a member of Parliament should have advance knowledge, before Parliament and members of this House, of the consequences of budget cuts for his or her own riding. This raises a number of questions for me, as a parliamentarian, and my constituents will have a few as well.
If it is true that the Liberal caucus had advance knowledge of this budget, there must be Liberals who obtained some personal or political gain from that knowledge. They were able to prepare answers for their constituents before anyone else, and that is a personal gain.
Furthermore, what assurances does Parliament have that the minister did not, following his presentation of the budget to the Liberal caucus, change parts of his budget in response to undue pressure from members of his party? How can we be sure? We cannot.
I do not, and the official opposition does not think the hon. member's response to the comments by the hon. member for Shefford was satisfactory. Mr. Speaker, correct me if I am wrong, but in the past, when there were leaks or alleged leaks, the matter was usually referred to a committee of the House for clarification.
Considering that the hon. member's reply fails to satisfy members on this side of the House, I would like the Chair to take the matter under advisement and refer it to a committee, for thorough clarification of an issue that goes to the very core of the Canadian parliamentary system. It is the government, through such practices, that is making trouble in this Parliament.